Laura,
You're learning alot about honeybees right now.
Take some additional time and make sure you understand
what is happening right now.  It wouldn't hurt for you
to even jot down a few notes (so that you can review
them later this fall, once this thing 'plays out').
 
First of all, I doubt that you need to order a new queen.
Based on your description, I'd say you still have at
least one queen (you may have more).  Do you know if
your bees have cast off a swarm (or for that matter, even
a secondary swarm)?  It sounds like that is a distinct
possibility.
 
Some of my answer assumes a couple of things:  1) the
wings of the queens were not clipped and 2) the original
queen wasn't marked(?).  Were the new queens from super-
cedure cells or swarm cells?  Do you know how to tell the
difference?  Obviously, the colony was preparing to swarm.
The swarming impulse is very hard to stop once its underway.
 
No eggs being present during this time is not unusual.  It
is normal for egg production to slow down or stop when the
colony begins to prepare to swarm.  The old queen will cease
laying eggs in preparation to fly (assuming her wings weren't
clipped).  And if they were clipped then one or more of the
new virgin queens would depart with the swarm.  This is why
clipping the wings of a queen doesn't prevent swarming.  It
should only be considered as a means of marking a queen; not
as swarm prevention.  It will take the virgin queens up to a
week to mate and then another two to four days to begin laying
eggs. And eggs are hard to spot (if you're not use to what to
look for).  Keep in mind just a little bit of sunlight (UV
light) can damage them too...so *bee* careful!
 
I'd recommend that you do nothing for a few more days.  Give
the virgin queen a chance to mate and to begin to start laying
eggs.  Chances are that a virgin queen was left behind with
the parent colony.  These new (unmated) queens can sometimes
be hard to spot.  Also, I'd recommend that you not disturb the
hive; sometimes the workers will 'ball' the virgin queen in the
process of trying to protect her.  Let it play out and check
back in two weeks - I'm wagering that you'll find capped brood.
 
During the peak swarming season; you need to get into your hive
every 7-10 days to kill swarm cells.  This is the only way to
stop swarming and retain your large field forger work force so
that you can get a really large honey corp from your hive.  Two
weeks (i.e., 14 days) is too long to go between killing swarm
cells for a colony that is 'bent' on swarming.
 
Good Luck,
 
BusyKnight
Dallas, TX
BusyKnight
Dallas, TX
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